Apple Slowing Down Your Older iPhone?

Apple Slowing Down Your Older iPhone?

Dear iPhone users, no longer you will need to wonder why your old iPhone isn't performing like it used to. Why? Well because Apple itself admitted to slowing down the phones via a recent software update because the aging batteries in older phones were causing devices to unexpectedly shut down. However, it’s not very clear if they are doing their users a favor or are using deceptive, immoral and unethical practices to push them to buy their newer products.Apple released a statement saying “Our goal is to deliver the best experience for customers, which includes overall performance and prolonging the life of their devices. Lithium-ion batteries become less capable of supplying peak current demands when in cold conditions, have a low battery charge or as they age over time, which can result in the device unexpectedly shutting down to protect its electronic components. Last year we released a feature for iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE to smooth out the instantaneous peaks only when needed to prevent the device from unexpectedly shutting down during these conditions. We've now extended that feature to iPhone 7 with iOS 11.2, and plan to add support for other products in the future.”According to them by doing this they are helping their consumers by keeping their old iPhones running even though at a much slower rate. However, they only reported this after Reddit correctly identified that Apple is slowing down its older iPhones with iOS updates that throttle peak CPU speeds. John Poole, founder of Primate Labs and Geekbench developer pulled together and compared data from the performance testing Geekbench had done on users iPhone 6s and 7 devices. He analyzed all that data from a sample set of approximately 100,000 phones, said he had tens of thousands of results across different versions of iOS. His analysis uncovered that processors did slow down after the update meant to fix the shutdown problem, that the problem was widespread, and that, as he put it, it was “likely to get worse as phones (and their batteries) continue to age.”

One way they could have completely avoided this scenario is if their phones had the option to replace the battery. It’s cheaper to go out and buy a new battery for your slow & problems infested phone than to just go ahead and get a new phone itself. Some people have pointed out the company does offer its users an out of sight notice that alerts them when their iPhone’s battery needs a check over for a generous $79 worth of hard earned money. Still, many claim the company could have been more transparent about its strategies. iPhone and other smart phone customers are reaping the downside of prioritizing design features and aesthetics over function. The conspiracy that Apple purposely messes with your iPhone, frustrating you and forcing you to scrounge money to upgrade isn’t new. That conspiracy existed long before Poole’s analysis. Google searches for “slow iPhone” spike every time a new model comes out. Tech bloggers have generally speculated the idea that Apple is causing you distress with a lousy phone to get you to buy a new one. But they do say is that newer software upgrades can mess with older phones because the new software is designed for the newest model…the one with the fastest processor and the freshest battery.

Now the company is facing two different class-action lawsuits filed in California and Illinois for purposely slowing down older phone models as a way of forcing consumers to purchase the newer iPhone models. Apple has not publicly responded to the lawsuits. Apple was not transparent, therefore it’s natural for people to suspect it of deliberately crippling their devices to get them to buy new ones.

UPDATE

Apple has issued an apology for their action and said that it was done to prevent random shutdowns. To show they are sorry they have reduced the price to change battery in an iPhone to $29 for this year. Read More about Apple's apology here.